Hello! I want to tell you about an app that I dearly love. It was the one place that kept me and my students connected most any place and any time. It was great in the classroom but I have to say, it took me a bit to figure out how to use it, AND keep up with it, when I received a class of 800 students! Coming out of the classroom and into the position of Technology Specialist was a dream come true for me. Still figuring out the ropes, it was a while before I could figure out how to utilize it with so many students without becoming overwhelmed. Slowly but surely, a plan is coming together.
Seriously, if you’ve never heard of Edmodo, I wholeheartedly encourage you to try it out! The students refer to it as, “Facebook for school”. Don’t let that fool you though. Although the theme is blue and white, and you can chat with fellow students (at the teacher’s discretion, of course!), I would say it’s more of a virtual classroom.
For instance, after the students sign up and log in (or vice-verse), they have the options to upload assignments, spelling words, vocabulary words–anything that can be put on an e-document, into a cloud storage called their backpack. Students have the option to change their avatar, earn badges, and play some academic games. The students can send a post to the teacher directly, post to the whole class, share pictures, video clips and music clips.
From the teacher’s perspective, quizzes can be given with instant grading, assignments given, uploading links to video homework help can be posted, student recognition can be given via the badges, and extra credit given.
A few of my colleagues uses it to give extra credit. Since there’s always a handful of students that don’t have access to Internet away from school campus, it’s not a good idea in our district to assign digital assignments. However, non-mandatory extra credit assignments can be given.
The quizzes were always a favorite of mine. Created by teachers ahead of time, these quizzes could be quick and easy, perhaps done in a 20 minute rotation center–data for you to gather. It could formal or informal, depending on the teacher’s need. The quizzes could be created ahead of time, but not made available to the student until the teacher says so.
With that mindset, of not all students having Internet access, I built my homework assignments into two categories during my 4th grade classes. For instance, during our lessons of arrays, I had given homework that basically covered the same objective, but were two different styles. Basically, the student had to create an array of objects from home, then send me evidence of said array. If a student had Edmodo, they could take a picture of their array, then upload it to Edmodo and share it with me. If a student did not have access to the Internet, they were to create an array and bring it into class. Both options had very positive and create results. Having homework given in this manner, no one was left out, and no one felt inferior or superior.
I will say that one of the interesting things I found with using Edmodo each year in the classroom, was that a lot of students who had no access to the Internet at the beginning of the year, found a way to access it outside of campus by the time January rolled around. Either they piqued the interest of their parents/guardians enough that Internet access was purchased (usually at Christmas) or they found a way to use Internet while at relative or friends’ houses. Either way, the connectivity usually doubled after Christmas. Still, the assignments outside of class were kept as “with Internet/Without Internet”. Not only did some students gain access; but others lost access. Viruses, mishandling of hardware, and other issues often came into play. So, as with any Internet option, educators do well to keep in mind that not all students have access to Internet at all times.
Edmodo was also the landing-place of the video tutorials I spoke about in the post of Explain Everything. For students that were chronically absent, or just needed a refresher, Edmodo was the place where I uploaded the SchoolTube/YouTube links of the videos I created for students to explain a concept. I was proud to see several students utilizing this when we had a math test at school. They would get on Edmodo and watch the video just once more before the test. That’s when I knew Edmodo was a good choice.
All of the above happened when I had a class of 20-25 students. Now, having rotations of 6 classes a day, with 6 different sets, I first thought that I would not be able to be able to use Edmodo. Too many students! Overwhelming concept to say the least. However, Edmodo is the perfect platform to teach social netiquette to our upcoming digital students. I confess that I made the mistake of thinking students knew how to behave online. This could not be farther from the truth. From the mean, ‘just kidding” posts, to hijacking posts, it was plain that students DO need a little guidance in this area of posting in a public forum. Edmodo is perfect, because, after all, in the words of several students, “Edmodo is like Facebook for school!”
Try Edmodo for a month in your classroom. Let me know how it works for you!
Today’s app is Good Notes, available for the iOS. This is a PDF markup type app. In order to broaden my horizon, I’ve tried others, but find myself always drifting back to Good Notes. It just simply gives me what I need.
Techtips2teachers 